Editing the Edification

Edifying

Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (Eleventh Edition) Edify

-fied; -fy•ing [Middle English, from Anglo-French edifier, from Late Latin & Latin; Late Latin aedificare to instruct or improve spiritually, from Latin, to erect a house, from aedes temple, house; akin to Old English ād funeral pyre, Latin aestas summer] 14th century

1 archaic

a: BUILD

b: ESTABLISH

2: to instruct and improve especially in moral and religious knowledge: UPLIFT also: ENLIGHTEN, INFORM

Communities are meant to make one another better, stronger, and more enduring than you as a singular individual.

This is a clear mark of health for any community. A community must grow or a community will eventually fall apart.

Communities are living organisms and must be treated as such.

How can the Corinthian Church bring life and vitality back to their church?

1 Corinthians 14.1a

The Holman Christian Standard Bible Chapter 14

Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts

Love: emotional, active, self-sacrificing love for one another.

Love is at the heart of being a Church.

The members of a Church are:

Invested

emotionally connected.

authentic

putting others needs above their own.

Now this doesn't neccessarily mean that you give in such a way that you are detrimental to your own family. We are all called to be good stewards and it is true that if we aren't being good stewards that it will naturally limit how well we can help others.

That said, there are times when Christ calls us to such extreme self-sacrifice that we don't know where the money will come from.

There is no formula.

It is something prompted and directed by the Holy Spirit and thus He doesn't need to be help accountable to you

Church Members should desire spiritual gifts.

The goal of each Church Member should be to help and edify one another.

The only way we can truly edify one another is through the work and gifts of the Holy Spirit.

So, if a Christian is truly concerned about building up the Body of Christ he will pray for and seek:

Spiritual gifts

Spiritual Activities (ministries)

Spiritual Positions (offices in the Church)

1Corinthians 14.1b

The Holman Christian Standard Bible Chapter 14

and above all that you may prophesy.

The Corinthian Church had a bunch of self serving members.

They were more concerned with:

their own bellies

their own status in the church

their own pocketbooks

their own status in the community

their ability to have fun.

Paul wants them to give up all of that.

Paul wants them to "pursue love".

Paul sees the best way of doing that as prophesying.

What do you think of as the most helpful spiritual gift?

To me personally, I think of healing as the most beneficial. I mean we all are always sharing prayer requests for healing, why can't we just have the gift here in the Church so we could just take care of those petitions through the power and authority of the Holy Spirit?

Apparently, the Corinthians put great stock in the gift of tongues.

The Holman Christian Standard Bible Chapter 14

2 For the person who speaks in another language is not speaking to men but to God, since no one understands him; however, he speaks mysteries in the Spirit.

This verse is speaking of a prayer language.

We spoke last week of how this can have great benefit to the Church.

Petitions

Zeal

This gift in every instance seen in Scripture is either a personal, private use gift or seen in small groups of prophets who are praying together i.e. all of them had the gift or were familiar with the gift.

However, the Corinthians weren't concerned with proper use of the gift, rather:

They wanted to show off their spiritual gift.

How can you say that based off of verse 2?

The answer is I actually can't but I can based on verses 4-5

1 Corinthians 14:4–5 HCSB

The person who speaks in another language builds himself up, but he who prophesies builds up the church. I wish all of you spoke in other languages, but even more that you prophesied. The person who prophesies is greater than the person who speaks in languages, unless he interprets so that the church may be built up.

The purpose of a Prayer Language is to be personally edified by the Spirit directly.

Such a person can bring the benefits of that personal edification to the Church Community.

It never hurts the Structure of a building to have stronger building materials.

The people at Corinth were taking their private gift public not to build up the Church but to build themselves up in the eyes of men or rather by the hands of men.

Now I must clarify something:

Receiving praise from men and most especially our brothers and sisters is not only good but biblical.

However, when we replace praise from God with praise from men, then it is idolatry.

"Good things make horrible gods." -C.S. Lewis

This is very clearly what they were doing in fact some of them didn't have a spiritual gift at all but were just talking nonsense but occasionally it would blaspheme Jesus.

Any spiritual gift that acts contrary to the commands or reality of Jesus is either:

A)not a spiritual gift at all but a show.

B) not a spiritual gift from God but one from Demonic powers and authority.

1 Corinthians 14:3 HCSB

But the person who prophesies speaks to people for edification, encouragement, and consolation.

Paul has is calling them to change and he is using their desire for prestige to show them the import.

Paul's flow of Logic:

A)You want to be first place in the church.

B) You are trying to attain this through pride and showing off.

C)Those are last place and even non-christian activities.

D)Accurate Love is the best way of being the #1 Christian.

E)Love is emotionally connected sacrificially active love.

F)One of the strongest activities to show love is prophesying.

Speaking the Truth in Love is prophesying.

All Christians even if they don't have the spiritual gift can exercise the activity.

In order to be a good prophet you have to be in the Word of God.

This is true for all forms of Biblical prophecy.

Points of Worship

-God communicates with each of us actively, today.

-The Holy Spirit has enabled some of us to be prophets.

-Jesus has a message for His Church today.